Hello people...

my WD800JB-00JJC0 crashed the other day. When I got my PC running again and tried to boot with the WD as slave it began to make a noise for about 30secs(I attach a recording), BIOS recognized the device and Windows booted normally. The disk was not visible in Windows and I tried to see if WD diagnostics would work. Here are the results :

Test Option: QUICK TEST
Model Number: WDC ROM MODEL--SABRE--
Unit Serial Number: WDC-ROM SN# XYZ----
Firmware Number: 05.01C05
Capacity: 40.03 GB
SMART Status: Not Available
Test Result: FAIL
Test Error Code: 08-Too many bad sectors detected.
Test Time: 15:52:08, November 04, 2012

What steps would you suggest to take to diagnose the problem?
What can I try to make the disk working again just enough to back up data?

Thank you in advance

Sorry, this problem is difficult to handle yourself. It's a complex hardware/firmware issues. The solution needs an advanced hardware+software combined. You need to have the drive diagnosed properly by a data recovery professional

If your data is important, you can contact this forum member : northwind (northwind-data-recovery-new-facilities-t23346.html). He is from Greece, also

+1 Northwind

_________________
PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

Just FYI ...
http://www.salvationdata.com/blog/solut ... z-problem/

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

I'm sure you are trying to help, but what exactly do you expect the OP to do with this information?

This "solution" is 99/100 times for cases where the original PCB has been lost or damaged with bad ROM, according to the info given by the OP this is not the case.

Are you suggesting he buys the Salvation Doctor suite at $2000 (AFAIK they do not sell the individual units anymore, but could be wrong) just in case it might fix his drive?

Ok, he might be able to pick up a used unit on EBay or something, but the licensing seems to be a bit of a grey area (unless things have changed at SD)

I respect your electronics knowledge and skills, which I'm sure are better than mine, but please refrain from proffering advice on things you know little about.

Thank you

_________________
PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

Of course not. That's why I wrote "just FYI". And SD's Doctors can be purchased individually for a lot less, as can the DFL-WDII.

Why did I post that information? Because I don't automatically lump the OP with the lowest common denominator of HDD user. Some people (especially me) like to know just a little more than that "it's an internal fault".

In any case that article does say that the problem could be a head fault, which would prevent the drive from accessing the ATA overlay.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

I wish fzabkar would post more of this stuff on the forum. It gives the end user a false hope that the drive can be fixed easily and for cheap. Then when they mess it up and finally call pro help it costs much more than if they just left it alone. And many times it is so messed up that these cheap-o DR places can't even recover the data. I salute you Mr. fzabkar for keeping us in business. The work may be harder but it sure is worth it.

_________________
Buy your friends Toshiba\Hitachi and your enemies Seagate.

Actually the OP contacted us and was honest enough to say he put the drive in the freezer for 24 hours.

This of course makes things even worse adding to the fact that these drives are beasts...
We have explained how things are and it's up to them to decide if they will send the drive in for evaluation or not. Evaluation will still be free, but recovery will not be cheap now.

Thanks everyone for the suggestion

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

AAAAH.. so another fridge victim..

Of course the problem first NEEDS to exist, actually.

Unfortunately when things are so messed up, not only the "el cheapo DR places" can't recover data, it's hard times even for the seasoned pros. I feel sorry for customer's data / memories and time wasted, not for the money that is always welcome ("pecunia non olet") .



The freezer myth is hard to die. What if instead of the freezer it was liquid nitrogen (very cheap, indeed - no more than 10$ / liter ) ? It should work like a charm....

Maybe SD doctors can be bought for a lot less, but second hand as SD do not sell them separately any more, hence why I mentioned licence issues.

I have seen the results of software like DFL and the like, no doubt purchased with the hope of a cheap fix, egged on by people who the data doesn't belong to.

Often we can in these cases tell that "something isn't quite right" with the firmware and/or ROM, and only after much pressing for the truth have the users admitted that they bought/used Chinese software and "pressed a load of buttons" in the software and "uploaded some firmware modules" but have no idea what buttons they pressed, or what modules they uploaded.

This is also these case in drives received from "PC Experts" who have fiddled with drives using SD or DFL type software, so "lumping people in" is not the case.

This is why it so no annoying for you to promote this powerful software to noobies (at least into DR) who are looking for a cheap fix before resigning themselves to pro help, which is often much more difficult or impossible after the "fiddling"

This software in its own right is no doubt apparently good stuff and very powerful, but requires a lot of research and trial/error/practice ON UNIMPORTANT DRIVES to figure out how it works and what does what.

To suggest this type of software to an end user is quite simply grossly negligent and irresponsible.

I'm sure you think you are trying to help, but trust me you're not in a case like this.

Like I said before I'm sure your electronic skills are superb (better than mine for sure) and have no issue at all with you helping people out with PCB issues and so forth, good luck to you.

IMHO of course.

_________________
PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

We having a bet on what the problem is guys??

I'll have 10 euros on motor connection related

_________________
PC Image Data Recovery
http://www.pcimage.co.uk

New!! HDD-PCB.COM for all your PCB and donor HDD requirements!

I will bet for Power IC ( SMOOTH ) or like Mr.Pcimage said ( motor connection ) unscrew PCB then rescrew.

I'll bet on heads and (now, after the fridge) media damage too.

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

Why is it that HDD manufacturers specify an ambient non-operating temperature range that includes -40C?

Why are some HDDs, eg Hitachi's EnduraStar, rated for an ambient operating temperature range that includes -30C?

Why do other data recovery professionals (eg Doomer) consistently state that condensation does not occur in refrigerated HDDs? ISTR that he also operated a standard desktop drive at -20C without damage.

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

So, seriously, you suggest people to refrigerate their drives?

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

No, I don't.

However, I have never seen anyone in your profession answer my questions.

If the HDD manufacturer says that a temperature of -40C is OK, then why should I dispute that?

_________________
A backup a day keeps DR away.

Because you haven't seen the effects of freezing on the platters.
I have.

And because you haven't seen people CRY because they read the internet crap (eg. "freeze your drive and you will get all your data back") and then they were told that their drive is 100% non-recoverable.
I have.

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners

Why discuss and teach when it gives no revenue?

Good point.

_________________
http://www.northwind.gr
SandForce SSD Recovery
Ransomware Reverse Engineering - NoMoreRansom! partners